Gregor Paul: Why announcing All Blacks' fixtures for 2020 is about more than just rugby

New Zealand players lines up for the national anthem prior to the Rugby World Cup 2019 Group B game between New Zealand and Namibia. Photo / Getty Images.

COMMENT:

Someone, somewhere needs to take control and make definitive plans for the Southern Hemisphere's international programme this year.

For months now there has been obfuscation on the issue of when or if tests will be played, vague statements about situations being fluid, possibilities changing by the day and multiple permutations being worked through.

We get it. Life is unpredictable at the moment and to a greater extent, planning is at the mercy of the Government who control the border, the rules around quarantine and mass gatherings.

But just as true, and of more significance, is that uncertainty is a killer and the not knowing what's next, is more damaging than there not being a next.

Unless there is a breakthrough in the next two days there will be a preposterous scenario on Sunday morning when Ian Foster names his first All Blacks squad with no idea who they will be playing if they are in fact going to be playing anyone at all.

They will be the classic Prom night travesty – all dressed up but with nowhere to go, asked to train and prepare for an unknown mission that may never happen.

It's ridiculous, part Kafka, part Monty Python and totally unsustainable. Without a plan Sky's business, among others, is stuck in dangerous territory where they can't win new subscribers, can't commit to new initiatives and can't say what their likely costs are going to be for the next few months.

All Blacks perform haka against South Africa last year. Photo / Photosport.co.nz

The balance sheet and profit margins of a publicly listed company that hasn't always endeared itself to even its own customers, seems like an odd thing to worry about in the current climate, but right now as things stand, Sky's cash is the only thing propping up the entire framework of professional rugby.

At current alert levels, there is no gate money to collect and so if there is going to be test football in the Southern Hemisphere this year, it will be funded by Sky and other broadcasters, whose respective war chests diminish every day there is no news about the Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup.

And it's hardly a case of priorities being out of whack when the whole sport of rugby is teetering on the brink of collapse and New Zealand recorded one case of community transmitted Covid-19 on Thursday.

What have the lockdowns been for if they weren't about trying to preserve both life and a way of life, protecting people and preserving the institutions that make us who we are and New Zealand the country it is.

Giving the All Blacks a test programme seems like both a symbolic and actual means to determine New Zealand's success in dealing with the virus – a more holistic measurement certainly than purely counting the number of cases which increasingly appears to be capable of producing only Pyrrhic victories.

Those who celebrate each drop of the infection counter do so blind to the fact a whole generation have lost their education, hundreds of thousands have lost their jobs and countless numbers of families have been left emotionally scarred at not being able to be with or farewell loved ones.

The All Blacks are New Zealand's greatest embodiment of resilience, excellence and innovation. They capture the qualities a nation sees in itself and to see them in action would be the perfect testament to believe that life in New Zealand is returning to the old normal and the pain and sacrifice of the last six months have produced some kind of easier to grasp rewards.

Patrick Tuipulotu playing or the All Blacks. Photo / Photosport.co.nz

Plan for the worst and hope for the best worked when putting Super Rugby Aotearoa together and can work again.

That process needs to begin with someone taking the lead and saying publicly and definitively that the Rugby Championship is off.

The Springboks want to come but quite understandably, not at the cost of their reputation and players' mental and physical well-being, all of which will be at risk if they haven't managed to play much or any rugby before they arrive.

There is no scenario now in which they are going to have adequate preparation time and that needs to be acknowledged and actioned rather than everyone silently hoping for a miracle that is never going to come.

With no Rugby Championship, a Bledisloe series can be locked in and announced.

The situation in New Zealand at least, is not as volatile as many suggest. Alert levels can change suddenly but with the Auckland cluster having reached its epidemiological peak, the Government's current and foreseeable consideration is whether to bring levels down, not put them up.

The worst case scenario then is that tests are played behind closed doors – presumably on at least a cost-neutral basis due to the support of broadcast revenue.

Schedule games on that basis and then hope that New Zealand is in level one by the time they are played and tickets can be sold.

We have reached the point where everyone's had enough of not knowing and the time has come to either call the whole thing off and forget about international rugby in this part of the world in 2020, or get on with announcing when tests will be played and against whom.